VANCOUVER, British Columbia — They are back in the city where it all started so wrong. The city where they still haven’t won a game during the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Bruins are back in Vancouver, and until they actually win a finals game on the road, it’s hard to consider them the new favorites in this series. Even if visions of the last two games are hard to shake from the memory.

As convincing as they were in winning Games 3 and 4 at home, goalie Tim Thomas nailed it when he shared his thoughts on the momentum the Bruins are building.

“We have the momentum until the puck drops tomorrow night,” Thomas said shortly after arriving in Vancouver.

Then the momentum disappears.

Boston did everything right to even up the series. They shut down the Sedins, they lit up Roberto Luongo and goalie Tim Thomas is in the zone, even if he refuses to call it that.

They also realize what’s still ahead. They have to win two out of three games against a Canucks team that was hockey’s best all season long. And they have to do it with just one game left in Boston.

“We’re still in a very, very tough position,” said Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who found the ideal blend of pest and goal-scorer in Boston.

Marchand doesn’t see too much carryover from the two games in Boston entering Game 5 in Vancouver on Friday. He knows better.

“No, not at all,” Marchand said. “Even though we won both games at home, they easily could have won. There were a couple points in those games where they were all over us.”

OK, maybe he’s overstating it a bit when he says the Canucks easily could have won. Because that wasn’t close to the case. The difference between the Bruins now and when they started this series in Vancouver in Game 1 is that they found the desperation they needed after dropping a pair of one-goal games to open the series. They have finally engaged.

There’s always the risk that Boston loses that edge now that the series is tied, but Thomas pointed to the Montreal series in the first round as proof that Boston won’t automatically relapse.

“We were able to keep (the desperation) once we got it for the rest of the series,” Thomas said. “I’m hoping that we won’t have to worry about it. It’ll just be there.”

The Bruins know better than to assume the Canucks will roll over just because of two games of domination. They know what’s on the line.

Thomas said he takes a moment to visualize winning the Stanley Cup. He’s been doing it all season. Sometimes it’s right before drifting off to sleep. Sometimes it’s on the team plane, traveling across the continent.

He’s allowed himself to remember what’s on the line. He’s allowed himself to visualize what it would be like to win his first Stanley Cup at the age of 37.